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Camping. Oh, camping.

Well, for starters, I am glad we went. And once we get the organization down, I will probably want to go all the time. Once you have all of the things you need for camping, it's quite cheap to go and feel like you had a chance to get away, even though it's only right down the street. And I loved that we got to spend so much time in the fresh air. It's probably the most we've been outside and away from the TV in, well, ever. It actually made me want to be outside more.

So, with all of the said, Friday night was a FI-A-SCO. It was awful. Jason went early to set up the tents and chairs and stuff, like, noon. Then, he drove around to pick up Avery and go get the kids from their moms, in Flower Mound, to drive all the way back to Joe Pool Lake. He said he drove for two and a half hours because traffic was so bad. I left work at 5, had to stop home and pick up the dogs and change, go by the store to get lighter fluid (which they didn't have, so I had to go somewhere else) ice, milk, firewood and other misc items. I also had the cooler with the hot dogs.

At 6:30, I realized I wasn't going to be there before dark. I was having a "Jenna fit" (which is what everyone I know calls it when I lose my cool and began having a tantrum.) I finally get there at 7, no one has eaten, they have no fire started, and I arrive to find that the site was no where near organized. They had not collected any sticks for the fire while they had sunlight. No thought was given to making this site a practical place to find things in the dark. The dogs had rope lines that were connected to the pavillion so they could be on leashes and they were so long, that after we had hooked them up, they proceeded to run around frantically, knocking everything over and managing to get tangled up with each other.

I was done before we even started. I was frustrated, with traffic, with my husband, with everything. I told him I was just going to take the dogs and Avery and I was leaving. This was a disaster. Jordan starting crying because he was scared and he wanted to leave to. Sophia, the ever positive child, didn't know what was going on. So, I gathered everyone up, looking at Jason with the two older kids, and he was so upset. He just needed me to calm down and help him, and instead, I was throwing a tantrum like a child.

I called my dad and calmed down, reassured by the fact that they, too, had disastrous trips such as these in their lives (as I am sure all of our parents can attest to) and I decided I had a choice to make. I could leave, showing the kids that tantrums are OK, letting my husband deal with things alone and run away because the last two hours had been completely ridiculous. OR I could show the kids that you can "get glad in the same clothes you got mad in" and change my attitude and stay there, as a family, and deal with this.

So, I organized the site, which only a mother can do effectively, and we got to bed. Avery went to bed easily. It was fine.

We woke up Saturday morning and it was FREEZING!!! We weren't prepared for that. I mean, I had the kids bring clothes and all, but it wasn't enough.

We did manage to get a fire started...

And we actually starting enjoying ourselves.

Our campsite...

And we got some breakfast in us. The best part of camping is the breakfast, in my own opinion.

Avery was as bundled up as we could get her...

Jason had to wear my second sweatshirt because he forgot to bring one. This is what I am talking about! Women, on a side note, we do a very good job of thinking about these types of things!!

The kids were infatuated by the fire. Sophia must've roasted about twenty marshmellows.

Jordan had to make sure he was wearing his leather vest as much as possible...

By about, 11, we are all having fun and about to get ready to leave. I was thinking about it and I thought, this wasn't a great experience. All of this work and for what? One night of awfulness and a couple hours of fun? I asked them if they wanted to stay one more night. A unanimous, YES!!!

So, I ran home, got some things we needed, ran to the store for more ice, and we were ready to go for one more night.

Now that we were more prepared, we were free to have a good time.

We took some walks, played frisbee, ate alot of junk, and gathered ALOT of sticks.

And Sophia is our child that is ALWAYS lagging behind. Everywhere. Just in la la land.

Couple things I've learned about camping:

You can never have too many sticks for the fire, and....

You can never have too many pairs of socks!! Here is Avery with her sock-mittens.

And here she is, figuring out how to get the socks off...

Our big fire, with some good sticks we found...

Even the dogs got to come! They were happy as could be in the tent. They never barked and loved just hanging out on the comfy pallet and watching us.

The kids were a mess the whole time! We didn't care. They took a shower today, but the rest of the time, they were dirty and smelled like campfire and we could've cared less.

Avery was happy with her cookies and Jordan was happy with his roasty, toasty marshmellows..

So, all in all, it was a good experience. I think sometimes, it just takes one bad trip and figure out what you'd do differently for next time. I think the difference between a good trip or vacation with kids and a bad one is preparation. Something as small as running out of diapers at the wrong time could really cause for a bad night. And for me, I can't have fun unless things are in their place and taken care of. And I was never like that before!! I guess having kids really has changed me. I will like it when Avery is bigger and we didn't have to follow her around, worried she was going to fall down onto something that would hurt her or that she was venturing off somewhere she shouldn't. But she is still at a fun age. We will definitely go back!﻿

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